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DDIA: Distributed Systems Chapters

Descriptions

  • Source: Martin Kleppmann Designing Data-Intensive Applications
  • Prerequisites: Database fundamentals, networking fundamentals
  • Difficulty: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
  • Class Hour: 40+

DDIA Part 2 "Distributed Data" is the most valuable section of the book and one of the best reading materials for getting started with distributed systems.

Core Chapters

Chapters 5-6: Replication

  • Primary-replica, multi-leader, leaderless replication
  • Handling replication lag

Chapters 7-8: Partitioning

  • Hash partitioning, range partitioning
  • Secondary index partitioning
  • Partition rebalancing

Chapter 9: Distributed Transactions and Consensus

  • Two-Phase Commit (2PC)
  • Three-Phase Commit (3PC)
  • Paxos, Raft
  • Linearizability

Self-Study Tips

Read Chapters 5-6 (Replication) first. Replication is the most fundamental concept in distributed systems.

Chapter 9 is the highlight. Distributed transactions and consensus algorithms are interview favorites.

Pair with MIT 6.824. DDIA covers theory; 6.824 provides hands-on labs.

Notes

DDIA's distributed section is more accessible than most distributed systems textbooks. If you find textbooks too theoretical, start with DDIA to build intuition.